DENVER, March 30 (Ticker) -- There are some nights in basketball Michael Jordan will not miss when he retires after this season. This was one of them.

NBA TV highlights from Wizards-Nuggets: 56k | 300k

In his last visit to Denver, Jordan scored 19 points as the road-weary Washington Wizards closed out a six-game trip with an 88-72 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

The NBA great averaged 29.4 points in 26 games during his career against Denver, but shot just 9-of-23 on Sunday. He finished his night with 3:19 remaining, leaving to a standing ovation from the sellout crowd, although his exit coincided with the Nuggets owning a 20-point lead.

"Mentally you feel good enough to win the game, but your body just says 'I'm not going for it today,'" the 40-year-old Jordan said. "You could see it throughout the course of the game and that's not fun. In your mind, you know what you want to do and know what you need to do and your body just won't react."

Shammond Williams scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half to help the Nuggets snap a five-game home losing streak to Wizards.

Williams upstaged his more famous fellow North Carolina alumnus in the fourth quarter, scoring eight points in under 80 seconds early in the period. His three-pointer with 9:12 left gave the Nuggets their first double-digit lead, 69-59.

Jordan made a jumper, but Williams answered with one of his own with 8:26 left. Jordan missed a jumper and Williams drained a three-pointer with 7:56 to go to put Denver ahead, 74-61. After a timeout, Jordan was called for an offensive foul.

"I just started sticking my shots and creating for my teammates," Williams said. "Once I knocked down a few, I just kept shooting. I am happy with my points, but I am happier when I can create for my teammates and run the team."

Donnell Harvey had the task of guarding Jordan.

"I try not to play too close, or too far off of him," he said. "They (the Wizards) have been on a long road trip, and I think that made it hard for them to execute in the second half. I think we are getting better because we are learning to play together and everyone is improving."

Rookie Nene Hilario added 13 points and Rodney White and Harvey each contributed 11 for Denver, which won at home against Washington for the first time since Feb. 5, 1997.

The Nuggets earned just their fifth win in their last 26 games after overcoming a 13-point first-quarter deficit -- the fourth time they have won this season after being down double digits.

"Coach (Jeff Bzdelik) had a good game plan, we were switching the 3, 4 and 5 (positions) and we put pressure on them with our offense, which made them play pressure defense to try and get stops," Williams said. "The altitude played to our favor tonight."

Denver took its first lead, 47-46, on two free throws by Juwan Howard -- a former Wizard -- with 8:12 left in the third quarter, capping an 11-2 spurt. The Nuggets went ahead for good, 54-52, on Jeff Trepagnier's tip-in with 5:13 to go in the quarter.

"We came out in the third quarter and when the ball started sticking and guys started standing," Wizards coach Doug Collins said. "That's the instant sign of fatigue. I don't want to diminish what Denver did. They won the game. We just couldn't get anything going."

Washington went 7-of-36 (19 percent) from the field and scored a season-low 28 points in the second half. It shot 35 percent (26-of-75) from the field overall, after hitting on 62.5 percent (10-of-16) in the first quarter.

"I think everybody was a little tired, missing easy shots, free throws, missing defensive assignments," Jordan said. "You never want to use an excuse like that (fatigue), but in all honesty, I've played 15 years in the league. It makes a difference if you're not adjusted to this altitude and if you've been on the road for a long period of time."

The Wizards, who finished their trek with a 2-4 record, fell one-half game behind the Milwaukee Bucks for the eighth and final playoff spot.

"We are still tied with Milwaukee, and they have an easier schedule than we do," Jordan said. "We're not out of this, just a half-game out."

Washington jumped out to a 14-4 lead to start the game and held a 25-16 edge after the first quarter. Juan Dixon's jumper provided the Wizards with a 31-18 lead with 9:58 before halftime.

Rookie Junior Harrington and Marcus Camby each chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds for the Nuggets, who shot 45.5 percent (35-of-77) -- going a season-high 70 percent (7-of-10) from three-point range.

Jerry Stackhouse was the only other Wizard to score in double digits with 15 points. Starters Christian Laettner, Jahidi White and Tyronn Lue combined for just 14 points. In addition, Washington's bench was outscored by Denver's reserves, 45-24.